How much damage would be done by a sidekick in the face?

Question

I was at a party on Saturday night and this guy was going to let this girl side-kick him in the face and put it on Youtube. The girl goes to our school and she's a second degree black belt and she's pretty tall and wiry looking. Me and some other guys were talking him out of it but luckily she decided not to. I think he would have been hurt really bad but he seems to think that he could take it. Who is right?

Answer 1

At the very least the guy would have probably ended up with a broken nose but could end up much worse if the girl really knew what she was doing. The damage caused would depend upon the person's ability and power.

Answer 2

He could get knocked out at worst but i doubt anything more than that, Doing kyokushin I see guys get kicked in the head al the time, your friend would probably get KO if he is jus standing there and leting her do a kick or maby he will take it, depends on how good the girl is

Im just reading some of the coments here, and OMG Broken Skull, Spine damage, Teeth broken, holy crap, this is why you need to do some full contact sparing, then you will know that the human body is alot strongr than you think especialy if the person is doing an ackward side kick, in my opinion its not designed to go to the head anyway because you need to raise the foot too much and she probably wont get much power

the guy is still an idiot for agreeing to let someone hit them just to prove a point, but I'd put money on him taking the hit and nothing serius happoning and if someone wants to pay me a decent amout of money I'd let a guy hit me

Answer 3

This is one of those "what if" questions that literally could run the entire gambit of answers.

Could serious injury have resulted - of course it could. Any time you hit the head with some force, you run the risk of causing spinal or cerebral damage which could potentially kill or paralyze. What are the odds that would happen, probably fairly low, but everything would depend on pure luck. Most of the one blow deaths that occur were not intended as such, but circumstances and bad luck converged to result in a horrible outcome.

I would hope that the 2nd Degree black belt girl was playing along with the joke but NEVER intended to use a full force technique against a dumbass who would offer up his head for something like that. If she's been trained well physically, mentally, and spritiually, she would not have even contemplated following through for a second...which I sincerely hope is the case.

As far as the possibilities, the kick for most mediocre practitioners will lose significant power as it rises beyond it maximum range of effect i.e. above mid chest. In the hands of a more experienced practitioner though, it could cause significant concussion, broken or dislocated bones, fracture, or cervical damage.

Just a silly, silly thing to even contemplate - though he may have wanted to try for a principal position in the 2007 Darwin Awards, and based on the scenario described, I'd say he'd be in the running.


Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Answer 4

A side kick is one of the more powerful kicks if it is executed correctly and the lower back, hip, upper, and lower leg muscles are extended with the kick. That's a lot of weight, momentum and muscle powering it. You do lose about half your power any time you kick higher than the chest and also since it is traveling upward if she does not lift her knee high and extend the kick out as much as up it will not make as strong of contact either.

Side kicks by the angle of attack are really designed for the chest on down unless jumping. Suffice it to say that if she can break a board or two at waist level she can probably break some facial bones or teeth-especially if she hits with the heel. Tell your friend to close his eyes so he does not flinch when he sees it coming and take a few ibuprofen before hand and make sure his medical and dental insurance will cover it-he will probably need it.

Answer 5

It depends on the specific technique of kick, who ever is doing the kicking, a decent strike with the foot can break facial bones dislocate the jaw or get somebodys teeth out. Specially when wearing shoes. Howeve the most brutal strike is not with the foot. It's done with the shin as is popular in muay thai. It's taught as a technique that is a near garanteed knock out but it can do devastating damage to the head

Answer 6

Fortunately discipline goes hand in hand with the martial arts. Anyone who retains a belt over black belt has their self together,(usually, there's always an exception to the rule!). If she really wanted to land that kick full force she could have broken his neck! My students can break boards with a sidekick, he wouldn't be prepared. Ever see the 300 lb bag Bruce Lee used to kick? Granted she's not Bruce, but hey!

Answer 7

The girl is! She could of probably broken his nose or something! Even so, if she got caught by a police, she could of been in big trouble as well. A sidekick is no joke, specially when your a 2 degree blackbelt! I'm going to be a senoir whitebelt and I sidekick my brother in the hand and I sprained it to the point where it could of broken into pieces.

Yeah, my brother and the doctor were really pissed at me that day ^_^;

Answer 8

again depending on the power and ability a side-kick (yeop-chagi in TKD) could actually kill someone if the kick were to connect cleanly with the underside of the chin snapping back the head as a result. this could result in an acute subdural haematoma result-death within hours. although i agree with the man above-i love my art and in no way would i disrespect it-i am glad the girl saw sense.

Answer 9

I've seen people get knocked out by a side kick in point sparring. By accident. The worst case scenario is death but a few loose teeth, fat lip, or broken nose is more likely.

Answer 10

Fortunately for everyone she sounds like a very well disciplined blackbelt who doesn't need to show off. Had she delivered the kick full force she could very well have killed him either by blunt force trauma or by snapping his neck. That's not worth impressing a bunch of socially retarded imbiciles on youtube.